How to protect your feet?

LifeisP:

Yes, it might be handy to know how to make mocs, or how to protect your feet with rags/cloth, but the key to any survival situation is to make the most of the best at hand. The best at hand is modern footwear, considering the subject of this thread. If an individual does not have the skills to make it to the point that he would need to make a pair of mocs, the ability to make the mocs is a bit moot. If people are planning and preparing now, they should take advantage of what is available.

Alternatively, you could ask for instruction on making mocs, or post it if you know it. I have a little knowledge, but I am sure that there are others here that could write a fine post about the subject of moc making.

reply to post by LifeIsPeculiar


Gortex is my answer for anyone who claims that using nylon is a good idea if they have it., it isn't. Nylon would make your feet sweat then freeze.

So I guess you didn't see my post on how to make footwear and snowshoes out of trees and shrubs.

reply to post by Viking04


"The best at hand is modern footwear, considering the subject of this thread. If an individual does not have the skills to make it to the point that he would need to make a pair of mocs, the ability to make the mocs is a bit moot. If people are planning and preparing now, they should take advantage of what is available."

Sometimes the "best at hand" still isn't there. Suppose you are involved in an airplane crash and have to walk out of the sticks? You weren't wearing Super-Duper boots on the flight simply because you didn't expect to wake up face down in the brambles. Oh, looky here, one of my Nikes isn't on my foot. Now what are you going to do?

If you are thinking real "survival", developing a wide assortment of skills is the only sure way to go. Think about this: If in the "Day After" scenareo, suppose thugs steals your boots? Are you planning a cache to keep others? Would self-suffiecieny skills at least comfort you?

I think you are thinking "Urban" rather than "survival".

reply to post by LifeIsPeculiar


No, I am thinking about the practical side of it. Chances are, in most situations, you will have shoes on your feet. They may not be broken in rucking boots, but they are shoes. If you will look above in the thread, I posted about foot care.

Survival is a complete package. If you have shoes on your feet, would you waste time and energy to make mocs? What are you going to make them from? Can you kill an animal, skin it, tan it (unless you are making green hide mocs)? Do you have the time to do this? Do you have the materials necessary to make the mocs? All of a sudden, those $15 shoes on your feet from Wal-Mart are pretty good.

There are scenarios that you may find yourself completely barefoot, without opportunity to scrounge (including taking from those who no longer need shoes), or to pre-pack. However, in the big scheme of things, making mocs is one of those skills that will likely not be needed. Other skills such as foot care, selecting proper modern footwear are going to be more valuable to more people.

Do you happen to live in the southern states Viking?

Just wondering, if you have any cold weather/extreme or snow experience.

reply to post by suzque66


Yes, from the South, and I do have a good bit of extreme cold weather experience. (The experience was not at some ski resort either. )

reply to post by Viking04


"Survival is a complete package. If you have shoes on your feet, would you waste time and energy to make mocs? What are you going to make them from? Can you kill an animal, skin it, tan it (unless you are making green hide mocs)? Do you have the time to do this? Do you have the materials necessary to make the mocs? All of a sudden, those $15 shoes on your feet from Wal-Mart are pretty good. "

I can see where you are coming from; however, "survival" and "backcountry hiking" are entirely different concepts. Survival is what you do when you find yourself in a "non urban" situation without gear. I can clearly see that the thread is misnamed, so I'm out of here.

lol dumb me Viking, I meant the OP,

don't know why my brain thought you had started this thread.

After you answered that I was going to ask, 'then why did you start the thread?' lolol good thing I did a double take.

Originally posted by LifeIsPeculiar
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I can see where you are coming from; however, "survival" and "backcountry hiking" are entirely different concepts. Survival is what you do when you find yourself in a "non urban" situation without gear. I can clearly see that the thread is misnamed, so I'm out of here.

I am sorry that you take that position. First you accuse me of 'urban' survival, then it is 'backcountry hiking'. I am discussing neither, necessarily. I am looking at this logically and practically. Doing the best with the shoes that you have (or can scrounge) is a much more survivable strategy than first thing plopping down to make yourself some mocs. At no point did you post how to do it, or ask anyone specifics, so you missed a chance to add more to the thread than to berate other posts for not focusing on your point of interest.

However, reading your posts, you seem to think that survival focuses on making mocs. If you find yourself in a true survival situation, I hope that works out well for you. Further, as you point out 'without gear', and it is implied without shoes, How would you propose to make these mocs 'without gear'. Would one have any clothing in your 'without gear' situation? If you are in straits that dire, having mocs n your feet is the least of your worries.

edited to add an overlooked point.

[edit on 10-7-2009 by Viking04]

reply to post by suzque66


It happens to the best of us.

Have a good one.

When I think of a survival scenario I always think that many people have died off yet the resources are probably still available and being scrounged.

I can't really think of a very plausible situation where all the goods in the world have been vaporized and its 100% back to basics.

Maybe if an avalanche or some critter runs off with your shoes or a boot while you have them hung to dry lol

But, shoe-like materials in the woods can be made from and how I mentioned. Using cloth is not a good idea, tree branches and or leaves are naturually waterproof (if freshly or recently cut). Cloth would last a mere half hour walking in extreme cold.

I am now having visions of the Sopranos. Pauly with one shoe chasing the Slavic guy in the woods. www.youtube.com...

[edit on 10-7-2009 by suzque66]

reply to post by Viking04


"However, reading your posts, you seem to think that survival focuses on making mocs. If you find yourself in a true survival situation, I hope that works out well for you. "

Naw, I just mistook the thread for caring for the feet in a survival situation. That seemed pretty focused to me, not survival in general. I understand the full gambit of survival very well, especially long term wilderness survival. (Long enough to wear out the first set of shoes.)

I didn't post anything about "mocs" simply because the thrust of the thread appears to be about wise selection of backcountry footwear. You seem to have that well in hand.

I have a penchant for ammassing true "survivor" information, since I have always had that sneaky feeling that civilization hangs on by its fingernails; and, there is a high probability that it could rather totally crash around our ears. Odd, I think that people would be happier living off their own resources rather in this nasty state some consider "civilization".

Shoemaking does seem to be something for which I haven't accumulated much material. I thought this thread would slake that self-sufficiency quest of mine. The interest does not to be be there.

So, I think you mistake my motives.

reply to post by whoshotJR


"I can't really think of a very plausible situation where all the goods in the world have been vaporized and its 100% back to basics."

That very thing seems to have happen frequently on this planet.

reply to post by LifeIsPeculiar


Not sure what you mean? It seems even today we find left overs from ancient civilizations.

sure if your forced into the woods for a few years then you could be forced to make your own shoes but even then the likely hood is that in a pinch you could make a trip ( probably a bit dangerous) back into a small city area or even a garbage dump to find materials to use.

Many of the things that make goods for us and would work well for soles of shoes are not very biodegradable.

The best examples would be Dick Proenneke's series of him alone in his home built cabin

video.google.com...:en-US&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wv#

but see the entire series, there are many, I'm sure he repairs his footwear in one of the parts and gives good hints in general about snow and snow conditions.

here are the directions for the buckhide moccosins you guys are talking about: www.wonderhowto.com...

here are how to make shoes: www.wonderhowto.com... and snowshoes.

[edit on 10-7-2009 by suzque66]

[edit on 10-7-2009 by suzque66]

reply to post by whoshotJR


"back into a small city area or even a garbage dump to find materials to use..."

Exactly! That is why one of my posts mentioned automobile tires for soles. We do have to assume that we have the necessary skills to make shoes out of tires. I originally thought that was the topic of the thread; however, it does seem that the thrust is the selection of good quality and appropriate foot gear.

The only thing that seems to have gone awry on this thread is me. I came along for the self-sufficiency interests, which is not the apparent topic. As for there being anything left over from a "crash", have you seen a good pair of Aztec shoes recently? Furthermore, life after the general fall of civilization would not be particularly easy because of the two legged predators. It is, however, a topic that interests me greatly.

I have a modest library of "life skills" books ranging over a wide spectrum of topics. The "Fox Fire Series" is wonderful, but no mention of shoes. I also keep physics, math, chemistry, biology, machine shop, prospecting, blacksmithing, and many other good books on hand. So, you see, I'm not trying to be a rabble rouser, I'm just trying to goad these experts a little deeper into their interests. I want that information.

reply to post by Viking04

"Further, as you point out 'without gear', and it is implied without shoes, How would you propose to make these mocs 'without gear'. Would one have any clothing in your 'without gear' situation? If you are in straits that dire, having mocs n your feet is the least of your worries."

Oh, goody! If you really want to discus this sort of situation, then I'm definately game.

Being "without gear" is not necesarily without shoes. It certainly might be without appropriate shoes, but my ever-present Swiss Army Knife or Leatherman tool. If one were in dire straights on sharp rocky terrain, I suspect the topic of shoes would pop up in a hurry ... maybe even just to find water.

The sort of thing that I'm trying to accumulate is material like this: www.hollowtop.com...

reply to post by suzque66

"here are the directions for the buckhide moccosins you guys are talking about"

Tada! This is where I thought we'd be going. I hope I'm not hyjacking the thread.

Well, the OP did just want to know how to keep his feet warm, I am assuming he already had shoes in the cold thus how to make snowshoes and my link on the COLD system that applies to everything you would wear and how to wear it.

Anyhoo my point is, anything light and dry is the answer. Big huge boots are great if you are out for an hour or two, but frankly a pain in the...yanno if you have to hike it in the cold. Sweat is your enemy in -55 deg. weather.

[edit on 10-7-2009 by suzque66]